I appreciate the concern for my monetary well-being, but I can assure you that I'm strictly interested in volunteering. I am going to be a full time student and I won't have any time for a job, and I'm not interested in being an ambulance driver. I've had wonderful EMS experiences volunteering in NY and I have to say that if I have to resort to being a taxi driver than I have to say I'm sure my time would be better spent doing something else. I am not looking to earn a salary or work at a boring 9-5 job, I'm only looking to volunteer in the field of EMS because it is a very interesting experience, and there's no reason for me to be as least productive as possible driving a taxi if I'm only looking to volunteer for the experience. To me, that doesn't make any sense.
EDIT:
Oh and for the record, volunteers are certainly not "joe schmoes". Where I live the people who get the most respect from the authority are the volunteers. They have to have the same qualifications as the paid staff, and they are giving their time to a charitable cause. Just because you receive money for a service other people donate does not mean you're more qualified or more prepared, and it certainly doesn't mean you're more generous.